Guard-rail fastener.



Y W. S. NEWHALL & A. W. RICHARDS.

GUARD RAIL FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED $EPT.19, 1912.

1,099,569. Patented June 9,1914

Mrrrzssas [iv VEY'TORS UNITED SATF i OFFICE.

WALTER S. NEWI-IALL, 0F CLEVELAND, AND ARCHER W. RICHARDS, OLE EAST CLEVE- LAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE CLEVELAND RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPGRATION OF OHIO.

GUARD-RAIL FASTENER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Application filed September 19, 1912.

Patented June 9, 1914.

Serial No. 721,182.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, VVALTER S. Nnw- HALL and Anal-inn W. RIoHARns, residing at Cleveland and East Cleveland, respectively, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Guard-Rail Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an effective rreans for fastening a guard rail in proper relation to a main rail in such manner that the lateral pressure on the guard rail flange, tending to tip the guard rail over is resisted by the downward pressure on the main rail.

Another object. is to provide an adjustment enabling the same fastening device to secure the guard rail at various distances from the main rail or to be used with rails of various sizes and shapes.

The invention consists of the means we employ for obtaining the above objects, or either of them, as herein illustrated and as more fully hereinafter described and summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through our fastening device and a main rail and a guard rail held thereby; Fig. 2 is a plan of the stationary or plate member of our fastening device; Fig. 3 is a plan on a reduced scale of portions of a main rail and a guard rail, and several of our fastening devices; Fig. 4c is a perspective bottom view of the wedge constituting a portion of our fastening device.

As shown in the drawing, 1 represents the main rail and 2 the guard rail. The main rail may be of any standard or suitable form. The guard rail is shown as a T-rail, the ball 3 thereof being reduced on the inner side where there is an absence of wear. The flange or base of the guard rail on the inner side, designated 4:, is preferably formed of standard shape, while on the outer side it is flattened and widened, as shown at 5. This flattened portion of the guard rail having its top surface substantially parallel with its bottom surface is adapted to lie beneath the flange of the main rail and have that flange rest upon it, with the result that the tendency of the guard rail to tip inwardly from the engagement therewith of the train wheel is resisted by the overhanging flange of the main rail. The tie plate we provide enables the main rail to thus overhang the guard rail.

The tie plate, as a whole, is designated 10. It extends transversely of the rails beneath both of them and is suitably secured to the tie. lVe have shown two spike open- Lugs 11 near the outer end of the plate and two spike openings 12 near the inner end, which may receive the usual spikes .to hold the plate in place. The plate is provided with a rib 13, against which the outer edge of the main rail may stand, and with raised, horizontal portions 14: extending inwardly from points adjacent to the rib for a distance somewhat greater than half the width of the main rail flange. Accordingly, the main rail may rest on and be carried by the seat lei with the inward portion of the flange overhanging. V

15 represents a seat on the tie plate which stands lower than the seat 14 and is adapted to support the guard rail. The vertical distance from the seat 15 to the seat 14 is equal to the height of the guard rail flange 5, so that when the guard rail is 011 the seat 15 the top of its flange 5 will aline with the top of the seat 14;, and thus the main rail, resting on the seat 141-, will also rest on the flange 5. The main rail is secured in this position by spikes 20 which pass through the tie plate openings 11 above referred to, and a spike 21 which passes through the guard rail flange 5 and through an intermediate opening 16 in the tie plate.

The opening in the guard rail flange 5 through which the spike 21 passes is preferably elongated to provide an adjusted position of the guard rail. This opening is preferably a notch, designated 6, leading inwardly from the extreme edge of the flange By making this notch 6 open-ended, the spike 21 may, if desired, be put in place to hold the main rail in advance of the placing of the guard rail and thereafter the guard rail shoved in laterally beneath the main rail, the spike and main rail being slightly loosened to efiect this.

The means which adjustably hold the inner side of the guard rail in place consist of a wedge 30 suitably secured to the tie plate and having a projection 31 overhanging the inner edge of the flange l. The tie plate is provided, on its inner portion with an upwardly extending wall 17, which has an inwardly projecting horizontal portion 18. The wall 17 lies at an acute angle to the direction of the rail, and the wedge 30, driven in between this wall and the guard rail and lying beneath the horizontal plate portion 18, forces the guard rail outwardly, firmly against the spike 21 and locks its outer edge. lVhen in place, the wedge is held by a spike 22, which passes through an opening 19 in the plate portion 18, through a notch 32 in the wedge, and through a slot in the tie plate base directly beneath the opening 19.

To more firmly hold the wedge 30 in place we prefer to provide a tongue and groove connection between it and the tie plate. This is shown in the drawings as consisting of a rib 33 rising from the base of the tie plate parallel with the wall 17, and a groove 8% in the under face of the wedge, which is adapted to embrace said rib. W e prefer to provide the wedge with a boss 35, at its larger end, adjacent to the inner portion of the wedge so that the blows for driving the wedge into the place will naturally be given at the inner portion of the wedge and in a direction parallel with the wall 17 and the rib 33. This prevents the wall 17 being subjected to any undue strain when the wedge is driven home.

The elongated opening 19 in the plate and the corresponding opening directly below it which are occupied by the spike 22, which passes through the wedge, enables the wedge to occupy various positions, and this provides an adjustment for the position or size of the guard rail. For example, if the head of the guard rail were to stand farther from the head of the main rail than shown in Fig. 1, the notch 6 in the guard rail flange would not extend so far inwardly and the wedge would not be driven so far into place and the spike 22 would stand nearer the end of the slot 19.

Our method of fastening enables the same tie plate to be used near the end of the guard rail where that rail is curved or bent inwardly. It is only necessary to vary the shape of the wedge to conform to the angle which the guard rail flange makes with the plate wall 17. Thus, as shown in Fig. 3, the wedge 30 where the guard rail curves inwardly, has a more acute angle than the normal wedges.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a guard rail fastener, the combination, with a main rail and guard rail having one flange extending beneath the main rail flange, of a wedge engaging and overhanging the other flange of the guard rail, and an abutment for the opposite edge of the wedge.

2. In a guard rail fastener, the combination, with a main rail and a guard rail, of an integral plate having main rail seat and a guard rail seat lower than the main rail seat, a diagonal abutment on the plate on the inner side of the guard rail, and a wedge between said abutment and guard rail.

3. In a guard rail fastener, the combination of a tie plate having seats for the main rail and guard rail, the guard rail seat being lower than the main rail seat to allow the main rail to overhang the guard rail, a diagonal wall on the tie plate with a flange projecting toward the rail seats, and a wedge bearing against said wall and extending beneath said flange and provided with a flange adapted to overhang the base of the guard rail.

4t. The combination of a tie plate having seats for a main rail and a guard rail, a diagonal wall with an overhanging portion on said tie plate, said overhanging portion having an elongated slot through it registering with an elongated slot through the base of the tie plate, and a wedge adapted to extend between the base of the guard rail and the overhanging portion and having a notch tioned.

The combination of a tie plate having seats for a main rail and a guard rail, a wedge adapted to engage the guard rail, and a diagonal tongue and groove connection between said wedge and the tie plate.

6. The combination of a tie plate having seats for a main rail and a guard rail, a diagonal wall rising from the tie plate and provided with an overhanging portion, a rib rising from the tie plate parallel with said wall, and a wedge adapted to lie against said wall and beneath the overhanging portion and having a groove embracing said rib.

7. The combination of a tie plate having seats for a main rail and a guard rail, a wedge, means for slidably guiding the wedge diagonally of the tie plate on the inner side of the guard rail, and a driving boss on the end of the wedge substantially in alineinent with its guided portion.

8. In a guard rail fastening device, the combination with a main rail, of a guard rail having a flattened base flange extending beneath the main rail of a tie plate having a raised seat for the main rail and a lower seat for the guard rail, whereby the main rail on its seat may overhang and rest on the guard rail on its seat, an abutment for the outer edge of the main rail base, a diagonal abutment rising from the tie plate and located some distance on the inner side of the guard rail base, and a wedge between said abutment and the guard rail base, said wedge having a flange overhanging said base.

standing between the slots men- 9. In a guard rail fastening device, the combination of a tie plate having a raised seat for the main rail and a lower seat for the guard rail, whereby the main rail on its seat may overhang the guard rail on its seat, an abutment for the outer edge of the main rail base, a diagonal abutment rising from the tie plate and located some distance on the inner side of the guard rail base, a wedge between said abutment and the guard rail base, said wedge having a flange overhanging said base, the opposite edge of the wedge extending beneath an overhanging portion of the tie plate, and a fastening spike for the Wedge extending through an opening in it and through registering openings in the overhanging portion and base portion of the tie plate.

10. In a guard rail fastener, the combination of a tie plate having a main rail seat and a guard rail seat lower than the main rail seat, whereby a main rail on its seat may overhang the outer flange of a guard rail on its seat, a transverse rib on the tie plate forming an abutment for the outer edge of the main rail, an opening interinediately located in the tie plate for the passage of a spike engaging the inner edge of the main rail, a guard rail seating on the guard rail seat and having a notch extending around said spike, the flange of the guard rail extending beneath the main rail, a Wall diagonally extending across the tie plate and having a projection parallel with the base of the tie plate and toward the guard rail, a wedge bearing against said Wall and lying beneath such overhanging portion and at its opposite edge having a flange overhanging the base of the guard rail, said wedge and tie plate base having a cooperating tongue and groove, there being registered elongated openings through the base of the tie plate and the overhanging portion thereof, and a notch in the inner edge of the wedge adapted to stand between said openings in the tie plate and receive a spike passing through such parts.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto aflix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER S. NEWHALL. ARCHER W. RICHARDS.

Witnesses ALBERT H. BATES, BRENNAN B. Wns'r.

Copies of thin patent my be obtained for in cents each, by addreninz the communion: of Intent:- Wuhinzton, D. 0. 

